40th Psalm I've entitled this message what
a real sinner needs. I hope that is an interesting
subject to you. What a real sinner needs. Now this 40th Psalm The writer
to the Hebrews quotes as the very words of Christ. You're familiar with these words. Verse six, sacrifice and offering,
thou didst not desire mine ears, hast thou opened. Burn offering
and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, lo, I
come in the volume of the book it's written of me. I delight
to do thy will, O God, yea, thy law is within my heart. Now that's
quoted. by the writer of the Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 10
as the very words of Christ. And so we take all of this song
as the very words of Christ, don't we? Look in verse one,
I waited patiently for the Lord. Who's the only one to ever do
that? You ever done that? I don't think so. I know I haven't,
but I know he did. He waited patiently for the Lord. Look in verse nine and 10, the
Lord even describes his preaching. He says in verse nine, I have
preached righteousness in the great congregation. Lo, I have
not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid
thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness
and thy salvation. I've not concealed thy loving
kindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Now, every
true preacher would do well to follow this model of these verses. He says three things he did not
do. I've not refrained. I've not
healed. or hid and have not concealed. Three things he did not do. And
woe be to the man who does do those things. And notice the
subject matter of his preaching. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. That was the subject of his preaching.
He said in verse 10, I have not hid thy righteousness. within my heart. Now, understand
this, there is only one righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ,
the Lord. His righteousness is the only
righteousness there is. You believe that? David said
in Psalm 71 16, I've made mention of thy righteousness, even thine
only. Why, David? Because that's the
only righteousness there is. You know, when I've used this
term, imputed righteousness, that's really not a good term.
The Bible never speaks of imputed righteousness. It only speaks
of righteousness imputed. You see, imputation or imputed
is never used as an adjective. It's always used as a verb. There's
only one righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. I've made mention
of thy righteousness." Look what he says next. He says, I've declared
thy faithfulness and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy loving
kindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Now there's
true preaching. That's the preaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, look what he says in verse
11. And remember, these are the words of Christ. He says, withhold
not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindness
and thy truth continually preserve me, for innumerable evils have
compassed me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I am not able to look up. than the hairs of
mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. O Lord, make haste to help me."
Now, how could these be the words of Christ? He never sinned. He knew no sin. How could these be the words
of Christ? Now, these words let us know the reality of his substitutionary
death on the cross. My sin, as he stood as my substitute,
became his sin. And he said, mine iniquities. I don't know of anything that
makes me feel worse and I don't know anything that makes me feel
better. To think of him taking the hell that's in my heart and
burying it in his own body on the tree. I was saying to your pastor last
night, Christ experienced everything You know, for me to even say
that, like, I know what Christ experienced. I don't. I mean,
we're in the dark about this. I mean, I want to be careful. Whatever I say, I say it with
fear. Christ experienced everything about sin, but the commission
of it. He felt all the shame. He felt
all the guilt. He felt all the horror. And he
said, my iniquities have taken hold. upon me. They're more than
the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me." Now understand
this, this is why Christ can be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. Oh, the feelings of our infirmities,
of our sinfulness, of our weakness, of our committing the same sins
over and over again. What a horrible feeling that
is, the feeling of praying and confessing a sin and knowing
you'll commit it the next day, even while you're confessing
it. What a horrible, evil thing. You feel so, Christ felt that
much more acutely than you and I ever could because of his holy
soul. I'm speaking in the dark, aren't
I? That's why darkness was over. The whole world while he was
hanging on that cross for that three hour period, because this
was a transaction between the father and the son. And I feel
like an idiot even trying to speaking about what Christ failed.
I, you know, but, but the Psalms give us some idea, don't they?
He said, mine iniquities have taken her. That's the reality
of Christ's substitutionary death on the cross. But these are also the words
of David. Yes, through the words of Christ,
as he stood as the sinner's substitute. But these are the words of David,
the one who is described as the man after God's own heart. How he felt about his own personal
sin and what he needed. Now, that's why I've entitled
this message, What a Real Sinner Needs, because David, in this
song, is speaking as a real sinner, and he tells us exactly what
it is that he needs. Now, an unbeliever could never
feel this way about their sins. They just couldn't do it. They
don't have a holy nature. You see, it takes a holy nature. It takes
a new nature to even recognize what sin even is. You wouldn't
find an unbeliever making this confession about their sin, but
look what he says. He says in verse 12, for innumerable
evils have compassed me about. They can't even be numbered.
That's how my sins are, innumerable evils. He says, mine iniquities
have taken hold upon me. They've latched to me like a
vice grip. They're all around me. They compass
me about. They've taken hold on me so that
I can't even look up. I can't even look up. Now this is David speaking, the
man after God's own heart. They are more than the hairs
of my head. Therefore, my heart, here's my
problem. Therefore, my heart fails me. Be pleased. This is his only
plea. Nothing else. Be pleased, oh
Lord. Let it be your pleasure. Let it be in your good sovereign
will according to your eternal purpose. Oh Lord, be pleased
to deliver me. Oh, make haste to help me. David felt paralyzed. He couldn't
even look up. You won't find him making or
looking for excuses for his sin like Adam did. The woman that
you gave me, she gave me of the fruit and I did eat. In other
words, this is all your fault. If you hadn't placed me in this
position, this would have never happened. Now, whenever someone
truly confesses their sin, they're not looking for excuses. They're
not saying this is not my fault. They're saying it is all my fault. The true confession of sin is
when you take sides with God against yourself. Now that's
what the confession of sin is. You agree with God. You agree
with what he says regarding your sin and you say it's all my fault. Insincere confession never really
takes responsibility. He simply says, my heart, that's
my big problem. My heart fails me. Now this is what it feels like
to be a real sinner, not a complimentary sinner, but a real sinner. The
man speaking here is speaking as a real sinner. Now I've said this here before
sometime in the last few years, but somebody says, well, what
do you mean by real sinner? Isn't everybody a sinner? Yeah, everybody is, but not everybody
knows it. Not everybody knows it. What's a real sinner? A real
sinner is somebody who all he does is sin. A real sinner is someone who
cannot not sin. A real sinner understands exactly
what Paul meant in Romans chapter two, verse one, when he said,
thou art inexcusable, old man, whosoever thou art that judges,
for thou that judges doest the same things. You can't look down
your nose and judge anybody if you're a real sinner. You really
can't. And if you're a real sinner,
you know you have no claims on God. If he passes you by and
sends you to hell, holy and just is his name." A real sinner. Now, what does a real sinner
need? Now, look what he says in verse
11. He says, withhold not thou thy
tender mercies from me, O Lord. The first thing a real sinner
needs is mercy. Mercy, if your sin is all your
fault, what do you need? You need mercy. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgression, wash
me throughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Withhold not thou thy tender
mercies from me, O Lord. He says next, let thy loving
kindness and thy truth continually preserve me. I need to be preserved. I'll fall away. It'll be over
for me if you don't preserve me. Verse 12, for innumerable. They can't even be counted. Now, somebody says you need to
confess all your sins. Oh, you don't even know what
they all are. And there's not enough time in
the day, is there? Innumerable. That's a number that cannot be
numbered. Innumerable evils have compassed
me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me. Do you know what he's saying? When your iniquities have you
like a vice grip and they've taken hold upon you and you can't
escape from them. There's only one recourse when
it's like that. He says, my iniquities have taken
hold upon me so that I'm not even able to look up. You're
going to have to come to me because I can't get to you. I'm just
looking down. They're more than the hairs of
my head. Therefore, my heart fails me.
Be pleased. Be pleased. Let it be your will. If it's your will, be pleased.
It's the same thing the leper said. Lord, if you will. That's the only place you got
to go, is the sovereign will of Christ. Lord, if you will,
you can. Make me clean. God is. And he that cometh to God must
believe that he is. He is as he says he is. We believe in the isness of God,
don't we? He is as he says he is. in his
word. And this glorious divine being
tells us in his word what pleases him. I want to know, don't you? What he says pleases him. Now, David understood as a real
sinner that the only hope he had was found in God's good pleasure. That's it. Nowhere else. Now, I want to know what pleases
him. Don't you? I know this. He is pleased by
everything he does. You know, I regret just about
everything I do. Everything I say, I wish I hadn't said that. Wish I hadn't done that. I mean,
I'm just filled with regrets. I walk around with a big black
cloud over my head all the time. But he is pleased with everything
he does. Whatsoever the Lord pleased that
did he, in earth and sea and in all deep places. Where's your
God, David? Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." Oh, I love that about
our God. Absolutely sovereign, pleased
with everything he does. I think of that scripture in
Colossians 1, 19, it pleased the Father that in him, in the
Lord Jesus Christ, should all fullness dwell. All that God
is in the glory of His person, His absolute sovereignty, His
holiness, His justice, His immutability, His ... Whatever you can say
about God, all the fullness of God dwells in the body of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that pleased God. It pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. You know, in the man of transfiguration.
James and Peter and John were given a glimpse of his glory.
I love that passage of scripture where he was transfigured before
them. The scripture says his face shined
as the sun, his raiment became white as light. Moses and Elijah
appeared and talked with him at this time and James and John
and Peter were always watching. So we know what they were talking
about. Luke 9 31 tells us that they spake of the deceased, which
he should accomplish. And at this time, his divinity
burst through his humanity and they could, they didn't, Peter,
Peter always had to say something, didn't he? He said, Lord, It's good for
us to be here. Let's build three tabernacles,
one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elijah." Not knowing
what to say. And about that time, a bright
cloud overshadowed them. And a voice came from that cloud
saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Now here's my first point of
what a real sinner needs. I need to be found in him. That is my first and foremost
need. And this is what every real sinner
needs. I need to be found in him so that when God sees me,
all he sees is Jesus Christ the Lord, the one in whom he is well
pleased. Paul put it this way in Philippians
chapter three, verses eight and nine. Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in him. So that when God comes looking
for me, all he sees is his son. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness,
which is of God by faith." Now, here's the first thing a sinner
needs. He needs to be found in Christ. And you know, I can say,
well, I hope I'm saying with sincerity. This is what I desire
more than anything else, to simply be found in Christ. I don't want
to have anything to do with God apart from me simply being found
in his son, because I know that if it's anything else, all he
can do is send me to hell. Oh, that I may be found in him,
the him in whom he is well pleased. Now would you turn to 1 Samuel
chapter 12 for a moment? 1 Samuel chapter 12. Now Israel was in trouble at
this time. They had asked for a king and they found out how
displeased the Lord was for making that request. You can read about
it if you want to. in this chapter. But so Samuel,
verse 18, so Samuel called unto the Lord and the Lord sent thunder
and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared
the Lord and Samuel. They found out what they did
was wrong. And all the people said unto Samuel, pray for us
for thy servants unto the Lord, thy God, that we die not. For
we've added to our sins this evil to ask us a king. You put yourself in their place.
What if Samuel said, you know, what y'all did was wrong. And
here's verification for them. All of a sudden the sky turned
dark and there'd be thunder and lightning and rain. And, and
you, wow, we're in trouble. And they asked Samuel to pray
for us. And Samuel said to the people, fear not. You have done
all this wickedness. Yet turn not aside from following
the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart, and turn
ye not aside. For then should ye go after vain things, which
cannot profit nor deliver for their vain. For the Lord will
not forsake His people for His great name's sake, because it
hath pleased the Lord to make you His people." Now, here's
the second thing I need. I need for it to please the Lord
to make me His people. Now this happened before time
began. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. Now here's the
point. I need for God to elect me. I need for Him to choose me freely
by His grace. I need for His sovereign determination
is for me to be in Christ. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus? And that is what is done in election.
Now, I don't know the order of all this stuff. It was all done
before the foundation of the world. But I know this, you know,
people argue about election. I don't argue about election.
I need election. I need God to choose me. for the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, but the
purpose of God, according to election might stand. Not of
works, that's what I need. A salvation not of works, but
of him that calleth. Oh, how I need election. Election ain't up to debate for
this sinner. I need God to choose me. Turn with me to Isaiah 53. Verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. I need the Lord to take my sins
off of me and put them in His Son. I need that. Now, I remember one time hearing
a preacher, this was a long time ago. He was one of those preachers
caught up in one of those scandals. And somebody said, well, what
about your sin? He said, I put those sins under the blood. And
I thought, oh, you have the authority to do that? You can just up and
put your sins under the blood? It doesn't work that way. What
I need, and he has the authority to do this, because he's God,
I need him to take my sins and lift them off of me. and put
them upon his beloved son. And for him to actually render
satisfaction for those sins. You see, God is holy. God is
holy. Sin must be punished. He must
be satisfied. Just like the high priest of
old laid his hand on the head of that scapegoat. I love to
read about that in Leviticus chapter 16, confessing all the
iniquities and sins and transgressions of the children of Israel. And
they were placed on the scapegoat. The scapegoat went away, carried
into the land of forgetfulness, put away. Now I need him to actually
put away my sins so that God is actually satisfied with me
through what Christ did for me. Now that's what a real sinner
needs. I can't do anything about my sin. I need God himself in
the sovereignty of his person to lift my sins off of me and
place them on his son who his own self bear our sins in his
own body on the tree. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he actually put away sin, and made a way for God to be
just and justify the ungodly, and made a way for my sin to
be forgiven, is the most God-like thing God
ever did. The cross. He makes himself known
in the cross. And now, according to Isaiah
42, verse 21, we read this, the Lord is well pleased for his
righteousness sake. He shall magnify the law and
make it honorable. A real sinner needs the righteousness
of Christ. That's what I need. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness sake. Not only do I need my sins paid
for. And I do need my sins paid for. God's holy, my sin must
be punished. Not only do I need my sins paid
for, I need to have his very righteousness given to me so
that I am the very righteousness of God, a righteousness not only
equal to God's, a righteousness that is God's. That's the only
righteousness there is. Now that's what I need. Not only
I need to be found in Christ, I need for God to choose me,
I need for Christ to pay for my sins, and I need the very
righteousness of Christ. And this is the glory of the
gospel. Just as truly as my sin became His sin, His righteousness
becomes my personal righteousness before God. Now that's what I
need. I need His righteousness. That's the only righteousness
I know of. And that's the only righteousness that God is pleased
with. And any real sinner knows that's
the only righteousness that'll do. His righteousness. I don't
want to have anything to do with anything that has my fingerprints
on it. Do you? I only want to have His righteousness. That's what a real sinner, that's
all we have confidence in. I couldn't have confidence in
anything else except being clothed in His righteousness where His
righteousness really is my own personal righteousness before
God. In 1 Corinthians 1, verse 21,
you can write this down, look at it later if you want, but
it says, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. I need to hear the gospel of
God preached. I need To hear the gospel preached,
nothing less will do. I need to hear when we were yet
without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. I need to hear. This is a faithful
saying. It's worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I need to hear it just like
that. I don't need to hear he came to save repentant sinners
or believing sinners or sensible sinners. That's what
the Puritans called them, sensible sinners. I think I thought all
sinners were stupid, you know, sensible. I need to hear it just
like this. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. I'm one of them. I can conclude
he came to save me. I need to hear the preaching
of the gospel. I need to hear. We have not a
high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
But it was at all points tempted like as we are yet without seeing,
let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I need
to hear that. I need to hear, thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. I need to hear the gospel preached. There is no salvation apart from
hearing. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. I need to hear the gospel preached.
Now turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11 for a moment. I don't only
need to hear the gospel preached. I need to be given faith to believe.
Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5, by faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. For before his translation, he
had this testimony that he pleased God. Now, I know what everybody
thinks when we read that. I thought, boy, Enoch was just
so holy that God just took him into heaven, just brought He pleased God. Well, he was
so holy that God took him into heaven, but that holiness wasn't
his. It wasn't his. But here's the
evidence he had it. Look in verse six. But without
faith, it is impossible to please him. Now, what I need is faith. I need for Him to give me faith. And if I feel like I can't come
to Him with faith, I come to Him for faith. Lord, give me
faith. I need to trust Christ. I need to believe on Him. I need to rely on Him. And the Bible says it's the gift
of God. By grace, you save through faith.
And that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, the free gift
of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Lord, give me faith. Enable me to simply, like a little
child, trust thy dear son. Oh, I need faith. I can't come
up with it. I can't work it up. I can remember
one time thinking, I would believe if I knew what it meant. What's
it mean to believe? And then one day, I don't know
when it was, but God gave me faith and I found myself believing.
I didn't work it up. It's something God gave to me.
I need faith. I need to believe on the Son
of God. And then I think of what David
said in, turn back to Psalm 40. David is making his confession
of sins and sin. Innumerable evils, verse 12,
have compassed me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. I need the Lord. to be pleased,
to deliver me. Nothing else will do. I need
him to make haste to help me." Look what he says. Be pleased,
oh Lord, to deliver me. Oh Lord, make haste to help me. I need help. I need his help. I think of the Syrophoenician
woman. She comes to the Lord and says, Jesus, thou son of
David, have mercy on me for my daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. The scripture says, he answered
her, not a word. She dealt with the silence of
God. And the disciples, as she continued to cry, said,
send her away, she crieth after us. And the Lord said to her
and to them, I'm not sent. but to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel, I didn't come to save everybody. You know what
the scripture says she did then? Then she came and worshiped him. Now he's to be worshiped whether
he helps you or not. You believe that? Then she came and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me. Help me. I need his help. Help me. And he said, it's not right.
It's not neat to take the children's bread and throw it out to dogs.
And she said, that's the truth, Lord. If I ever heard the truth,
that's true. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from the master's table. I may be a dog, but I'm
your dog. And I'm not looking for a place
setting, but I'd be so grateful for any crumbs of mercy that
fall my way. O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt. Look down in verse 17 of this
chapter. David concludes this statement
with, but I am poor and I am needy. I have nothing. And I have great
needs. Would that be you? Would that
be me? I'm poor. I don't have anything
to recommend me to God to come from me. Nothing, nothing. I'm
poor, bankrupt. And I have great needs. And then he says, yet the Lord
thinketh upon me. And here's what I need. I need
the Lord to think on me. I need to have His thoughts toward
me. Just like the thief. Remember
that thief nailed to a cross? Remember what he said? You know,
I love the example of the thief. While he was on that cross, at
one point he went from cursing to Christ to all of a sudden
he became silent. And he listened to the other
thief curse. And remember, he heard those
sayings of the Lord from the cross. He heard the gospel. And
all of a sudden he said to his buddy, don't you fear God? seeing you are in the same condemnation. And we indeed justly, for we
received the due rewards of our deeds. We're getting exactly
what we deserve. But this man has done nothing
amiss. He believed in the absolute sinlessness
of Christ. He believed he's God and he believed
he was a man without sin. And then he said, Lord, He believed
in the absolute lordship of Christ. And he believed he must be successful.
Remember me when you return in your kingdom as a mighty reigning
king. You're not gonna stay on this
cross. You're gonna come back in a kingdom. Lord, remember me. That's what I need. I need the
Lord to remember me. If he remembers me, nothing else
will need to be said. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. Now, this is the need of a real sinner.
I need to be found in Christ. I need him to choose me. and
make me His people. I need for Him to redeem me,
to take my sins, to take my place. I need to be made righteous and
be given the very righteousness of God. I need to hear the gospel
I need to be given faith. I need for him to help me, and
I need for him to remember me. Now, anyone and everyone who
has these needs, do you need these things? Anyone who has
these needs has these needs supplied. Amen. Thank you.